


The Way We Were

by Foreverbandgeek



Series: I Never Met a Wolf Who Didn't Love to Howl [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Jydia, Non-Werewolf, Teen Wolf AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-05
Updated: 2014-08-08
Packaged: 2018-02-11 23:00:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2086377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foreverbandgeek/pseuds/Foreverbandgeek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lydia Martin has had a pretty charmed life, but Jackson Whittemore has thrown her for a definite loop. She suddenly is involved with things she never imagined and still she wants more. But where will this sudden flame lead her, and will it turn out as she hopes?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Way We Were

**Author's Note:**

> This is part one of my series, "I Never Met a Wolf Who Didn't Love to Howl." It isn't a necessary read for those of you who read "Love is Blindness," but it is the same Teen Wolf AU as in that fic. It gives back story on Lydia and Jackson's relationship, and will be one of fics that drain into "Love is Blindness."

“Boys are just stupid. They are. And I don’t understand why everyone thinks that they’re so great. Because they’re not. Not at all.” Lydia was sitting on her bed holding her pillow like a life preserver. She had been edgy all day, and when she had finally made it home everything had come spilling out. Erica was sitting on the floor beneath her and had been silent during the entire tirade.

“Lydia there is still another week before the Halloween Masquerade Ball, thats more than enough time for someone to ask you.” She had been trying her best to reassure her friend that she’d be okay but with each passing minute Lydia was growing more and more frantic.

“That’s easy for you to say, Boyd asked you like three days into school starting. Not all of us can be in happy committed two year relationships.” She tossed the pillow over her head and fell back onto the covers, her red hair fanning out like flames around her head. “Besides, the only guys that are worth going with already have dates. What’s even the point of going at this point?”

“Because you don’t need a guy to be able to have fun. I don’t understand where all of this is coming from Lydia, last year you never would have bummed so hard over something as stupid as a dance!”

“Yeah well last year was eighth grade. This is high school now, and I have no clue where I am supposed to fit in. I’m pretty but not pretty enough to get a date, I’m smart, but people assume I’m stupid because I’m pretty. And apparently I’m not good enough for that pretentious ass-”

“Wait. What? What pretentious ass? You never mentioned a pretentious ass!” Erica sat up and threw a book she had been lying on at Lydia’s legs.

“Ow! Never mind, don’t worry about it, it’s nothing.” Lydia pulled her legs up and curled into a ball on top of the bed. Erica crawled to the side of the bed and peeked through the curtain of red ringlets.

“Lydia, what are you not telling me. We made a promise a long time ago that we would always be honest with each other, and you are clearly not being honest with me right now.”

Her head lifted and Lydia moved the hair away from her face. The look of defeat was plain on her face. A look that almost never crossed it. “Well. There’s this guy. He’s on the lacrosse team and he’s really cute.”

Erica smiled. “And his name?”

Lydia stretched back out and sat up on the bed, grabbing the pillow again and clutching it to her chest. “His name is Jackson Whittemore.”

“Jackson? That jerk in our chem class? Lydia he is a pretentious ass what the hell do you see in him?”

“It’s a really long story, we were in guidance at the same time a while back when I was trying to drop gym class and he came out crying and I sort of just sat with him awkwardly in the waiting room until he stopped crying. We talked a little bit, and I guess he’s having some trouble because his parents just told him that he was adopted.”

Erica rolled her eyes. “Oh big deal, poor little rich boy has a loving mother and father. You don’t see me and Isaac having breakdowns because our mothers are dead, do you?”

“Erica thats not fair, imagine finding out that your entire life was a carefully orchestrated lie and the people who you trusted more than anyone have been behind it all! I just wanted to make him feel better and he was actually really sweet to me and I sorta sparked.” She shuffled to the end of the bed and stood up, adjusting the fabric of her skirt. She walked over the her wardrobe and took out a white sweater. “Besides, while you were at your doctors appointment today during chemistry, he ended up being my partner and he gave me his sweater because I was shivering. That is like, the ultimate movie move for someone that likes you.”

“Lydia, I don’t know, maybe he was just being a nice person. I mean, I guess lizard people can have a warm spot. But try not to get to crazy over this, it’s not worth freaking out and ruining the first semester of high school over a guy.”

 

Later that night as Lydia was finishing her chem homework she heard her iPhone buzz. She had just updated to smart phone and had just gotten a facebook and was still surprised whenever it sent her an alert. She grabbed it and almost squealed. It was a friend request from Jackson Whittemore. Things were flying through her mind at about a mile a minute until she had the presence of mind to slide the screen and accept the request. She was even more surprised when she almost immediately got a message.

 

‘Hey, so I have a question for you.’

Oh God this could be it. ‘Okay, shoot.’

‘About the sweater I lent to you today.’

Umm...’Sure? What about it?’

‘Well I figured that maybe since you have it we could meet up tomorrow for me to grab it?’

Oh god. Is this him asking for a date? ‘That sounds fine. Where?’

‘Well, the movie theater is actually still showing Toy Story 3 and I thought that maybe you’d wanna go.’

Oh god it is a date. ‘That’s sounds fantastic actually, I haven’t seen it yet.”

‘You haven’t! Oh god than this is gonna be good then. I’ll pick you up at your house for 7:30 then?’

Is this what heaven feels like? ‘That sounds perfect, I’ll see you then!’

 

They sat awkwardly through the movie, Lydia wearing the sweater while Jackson hogged the popcorn. The only way she knew it was a date was that he came to the door to pick her up, and he awkwardly put his arm around her when Barbie was having a fashion show with Ken. By the end of the night, she was just ready to go home and complain to Erica about all of it. But as they were walking out of the movie theater something changed.

“I can’t believe that you didn’t cry during the ending. I mean, they held hands while they were moving towards their death!” He had been freaking out the entire movie and was so floored that she didn’t feel the same way.

“I don’t know, I just think that it’s a movie, it’s not that big a deal.” Jackson stopped walking and she turned and saw the shocked expression on his face. She started to smile and kept walking. He ran to catch up with her and slipped his hand into hers. She felt an electric shock go up her arm and into her cheeks. She looked over at him and he had a sheepish expression on his face. He let her hand go and she giggled.

“What are you doing?” He looked scared, as if she would devour him or something. “It’s okay.” He smiled ever so slightly and slipped his hand back into hers. She felt like she could melt, his hand was warm and rough, and it was wrapped completely around hers. They were walking down Main Street, and the cold night air was playing with her hair, throwing it into her face. She used her other hand to pull it away and she could see him trying not to shiver out of the corner of her eye.

“Listen Lydia, I had fun tonight. You were really kind at school the other day and I haven’t really talked to many people about what was happening and you were just….you were just really kind. I really appreciated it, and I just thought that I would let you know.” They stopped under the light of a street lamp and Lydia could see Jackson breathing faster, the white mist from his mouth mingling with hers in the night air.

“It was nothing really, I was just being a friend. Anyone else would have done the same thing.” She saw something pass through his eyes and felt herself leaning towards him. She could see every line of his lips and every crease in his face. He wasn’t shivering anymore but she could still feel how cold his hand was. His face changed, and she could sense what was going to happen next.

“It isn’t though. You’re an amazing girl and I never even noticed. You’re something special.” And he kissed her. She melted into him, feeling every muscle in his chest, and feeling his breath on her face. He pushed at her and they hit the street lamp, his body forming to hers, sending electric shocks at every point where they touched. Her lips parted and she could feel herself losing control, something she always maintained. And losing control was good. He led her somewhere she had never been, the cold of the night air disappearing around them until it was just the heat of their embrace. All around them there were people staring and whispering about impetuous teenagers, but she didn’t care at all.

He broke off from her and they stared into each others eyes, both of their breaths rapid, the white fogging the air. She felt like she had been dipped in fire and had absorbed it into every pore of her body. All she wanted to do was the fly at him, touching every inch of him and letting him touch every inch of her. Her mind was aflame with the worst of thoughts and she leaned back on the light, feeling the cold metal through his sweater.

“Well that was unexpected.” His breath was slowing but hers wouldn’t. She felt like her skin was crawling with anticipation. “I just mean, I didn’t ask you out thinking that it would lead to this. I sorta just...wanted to be friends.” His face flushed and her breathing almost stopped. She felt the blood rush to her cheeks and the pole on her back ice over. A feeling at the back of her throat told her she was either going to cry or vomit. She dropped his hand clasped her own massaging the warmth back into her fingers.

“Oh, well I guess you’re probably right, I mean we barely know each other so this doesn’t really make any sense. Besides, we’re too young for serious things anyways. So I’m just going to go home, I guess I’ll see you in school tomorrow.” And she flew around the corner. The darkness enveloped her and she felt a stinging traitorous tear slide down her face. She started to run and felt the wind tear at her, whipping her hair around her head until it was knotted and ratty. She somehow found herself downtown amid the bars and the towns one nightclub. At 10:30 at night. All around her people were emptying out of the bars stumbling towards their cars. She couldn’t figure out where exactly she was and the only thing she knew was that she should be terrified. She saw a streetlight and ran for it, lighting her self like a raw nerve.

Trying to look tall and confident she fumbled trying to type her home phone number into her cell and watched as it slipped from her hands and hit the ground, the screen cracking into a spider webb. She bent over and tried to get it to turn back on but the damage was done. She felt more tears sliding down her cheek and felt her instincts telling her that she could very well die here. The terror started to mount and every scenario from health class started to run through her head a warp speed. She looked up and felt it reach a fever pitch as she noticed a man walking towards her, his eyes boring into her skull.

He was much taller than her, and huge. In the darkness his hair was nearly white, and his blue eyes shone bright even from across the street. His muscles pulled at the fabric of his shirt and his face was twisted into a sneer that chilled her to her core. He started moving faster and she felt a vice grip around her heart. Just as he breached the safety of her circle of light, a dark shadow fell from above her.

There was a while of fabric and a black jacket covered her face. She could hear the sounds of a fight and the guttural scream of death. She screamed until she was knocked back into the wall behind her. She felt it connect with the back of her head and her hearing went fuzzy. She could still hear the fight but she felt the jacket slide off her as she slid down the wall. The light blinded her and she could only make out one shape now. The figure that had descended was standing over her.

All she could make out was black hair. He looked dark, like he was bathed in darkness. He looked down at her and she saw the flash of white teeth. In the very fuzzy distance she could hear sirens and the buildings around her were suddenly doused in red and blue light. The man looked around and jumped onto the lamp post, ascending as quickly as he had appeared. A man in a brown uniform came into her vision and she was lifted into the air as her vision went black.

 

When she opened her eyes she was in a hospital room. There was a flurry of beeping and a man was holding a flashlight in his hands. She blinked away the last of the fuzziness and tried to sit up. He pt out his hand and stopped her.

“Now Lydia, you had a pretty good hit to the head, it’s best if you lie down. We’re planning on testing you for a concussion, but we think you’ll be alright.” She opened her mouth and had to stop and think about what to say.

“Have you seen my sweater?”

 


	2. The Rueful Fate of Jackson Whittemore

“Lydia, I shouldn’t have let you run away from me like that. If I had just been there you never would have been hurt.” She was sitting in the chair next to her hospital bed trying to tie her left shoe. So far she had gotten the first loop, but couldn’t get the bunny ears to coalesce. Jackson was apologizing for what seemed like the thousandth time, and she was getting pretty sick of it at this point.

Jackson, I told you this already, It was not your fault that some guy in a cape knocked me against a wall and almost gave me a concussion. What is your fault is that I can’t seem to get ‘You’ve got a Friend in Me’ out of my head.” She pouted in his general direction and finally got the shoe tied. She stood up quickly, and had to sit back down from the head rush. She had been having trouble but she was determined to get out of the hospital before new years.

“Well why would you want to get rid of such a quality song?” They had spent most of the last two days together and with each passing moment she could feel herself falling for him. And with each passing moment, every indication he gave her made it clear that he didn’t feel the same way. “We’ll just have to watch some more Disney movies until you get some more songs stuck in that big beautiful head of yours.”

Then he said things like that which made her think that he did see her as more than a friend. She spent an hour with one of the doctors whiteboards solving made up equations to try to clear her head, but nothing worked. Eventually her head started to hurt and she had to go back to bed. They tested her for concussion, but whatever had happened hadn’t caused anything.

When she had woken up in the emergency room they had told her that she passed out downtown and that someone had called the sheriff. When she tried to ask them about the man who saved her they didn’t have an answer, but everyone seemed like they were trying to avoid the subject. She began to think that maybe she had imagined him, but then how could you imagine a giant lump to the back of the head?

 

“So we have to mix the chemicals and then see what happens? What is this supposed to accomplish exactly?” Jackson was sitting besides Lydia at the lab bench, their elbows just barely touching. She could smell his cologne mingled with a breath mint, which was heaven compared to the gaseous vapors filling the room from incorrectly mixed chemicals.

“We mix them and then see how they react yes, but we’re supposed to be using the clue to figure out which chemicals are the ones safe to mix. I don’t know why they think this is a good idea, but whatever, it’s vials 3 and 7.” Jackson looked stunned. “What?”

“Lydia, I haven’t even read the clues yet how could you possible know that?” She looked at him and shrugged.

“It’s obvious to me.”

“Well, I guess we’ll see.” He took the two vials and poured them carefully into a beaker. As they came together, the new liquid was a milky blue, but as it moved in the beaker it suddenly became a brilliantly shocking sapphire. They watched as the reaction faded and the solution slowly returned to a blue tinged clear.

“Wow. That was beautiful.” She was still looking down at the beaker with an expression of longing, as if trying to will the reaction to occur again. She could feel the constant pounding in the back of her head, beating along with the rhythm of her heart. A heart that was so oddly synced with the breathing of Jackson besides her.

She looked up and saw that he wasn’t staring at the beaker. His steel-blue eyes were locked on her face, and they didn’t leave when he saw that she noticed. They sat very still, staring at each other, not saying anything. She felt her stomach flutter and couldn’t think of anything but their kiss. She had realized laying in the hospital that she had never felt more alive than when she had been kissing him. The feel of his lips still lingered when she sat in her bed at night, the smell of his sweater, the soft caress of his hand on her face. She had never felt like this before. This wasn’t an idle crush. In the space of a wacky kids movie, she had fallen in love. And he didn’t feel the same way.

“Lydia, what’s wrong? You’re crying?” Shocked back into her sense she brought her hand up to her face and wiped away a tear. She looked at the shining pearl on her finger and stood up quickly, sending the vials of chemicals flying, their contents mixing creating a foaming, smoking, and noxious liquid all across the lab bench. She flew away from her seat and ran out the door, only pausing the turn around and see Jackson staring at her as the liquid spilled from the table to the floor.

 

She ran through the hallways, blowing past teachers and students on their way back to class. She ran until she was hyperventilating, and she found herself on the cold concrete floor of the locker room. Her heaving turned to full, heavy sobs until her make-up was running down her face and dripping onto her top. She leaned her head against the cold metal of the locker and was reminded of the cold pole and cold brick wall against her back. Her breathing slowed until she was lying almost completely still. She could hear the sound of the bell ringing in the distance, and was worried about a nearby gym class, until she thought about Jackson. Jackson. He was such a big jerk. He had been the first person to visit her while she was in the hospital, and he stayed with her until they kicked him out. Everyday since then he had beaten Erica to the seat next to her in chem, and had insisted that they be lab partners. No matter what she did she couldn’t seem to shake him. He was there in the hallways, walking her to her car, sitting with her at lunch, and offering to help with her homework.

She looked up at the fluorescents and felt an urge to sneeze. Her head fell into her hands, until she was curled up. as if her forearms offered her any form of protection against her troubles. “I just don’t understand, why does he act like this when he said we should only be friends?”

“Well maybe he’s not worth it.” She looked up and Matt, that kid from her math class was staring down at her. “If he’s not willing to commit that is.” He extended his arm as if to help her up.

She glared up at him, and couldn't shake the feeling that he had followed her. She hadn’t seen anyone in the room when she came in, and there wasn’t any noise until he had spoken. She grabbed the bench and pulled herself up, turning to face him. She only came up to his shoulders. e wore all black and almost looked like he radiated darkness. “What are you doing here?”

He smirked and produced a tissue, but she wiped away the tears from her face with her sleeve. A flash of something went across his face and his smile faltered. She had no intention of letting this creep know what was going on in her life. She gave him a hardened look and walked past him out of the locker room. She saw Stiles a few feet away and ran at him, grabbing onto his arm and laughing. He gave her a confused look and tried to sputter out something. She threw a quick glance over her shoulder, and Matt was still standing in the doorway of the locker room, staring after them, and angry look on his face the only chink in his armour.

 

“So he just showed up? While you were sitting on the floor crying?” Lydia nodded. “I’m not gonna lie, that’s a little more than creepy.” They were sitting at Lydia’s kitchen table working on a history project due the next day. Erica had talked to Stiles and forced the entire embarrassing episode out of her, but was surprised on what she had to say about Matt. “He always rubbed me the wrong way, like one of those creepy kids who might suddenly pull out a knife or something.”

“The whole thing was just so weird. I don’t think that I’ve ever actually talked to him. We’ve barely spent much time in the same room as each other. I don’t really care about Matt though, I can handle him...I think. I just don’t understand what’s going on with Jackson. He’s been acting all weird, doing all these things, like getting my lunch for me and walking me to my classes, but he told me that he just wanted to be friends. Friends don’t do things like that all the time do they? You’ve never bought me lunch before.”

“Yeah but Lydia, that’s because you’re loaded. And so is he so honestly you could probably have a very beautiful wedding.” Lydia threw her pencil bag at Erica and they laughed. “Maybe he’s just confused or something, boys usually are, just try talking to him about it and see what his side of it is.”

 

“Jackson, I told you that you didn’t have to buy me lunch anymore, would you please just let me get it myself?” She took the tray and walked back to her usual table, plunking it down next to Stiles. “God I don’t think I can deal with this much longer.”

Stiles was mid-chew and still managed to answer. “Well, he’s coming over now, so try not to explode onto my lunch or anything.” Jackson sat down across from Lydia and started to pick at his salad. No one at the table spoke or made eye contact. She could feel her skin crawling, itching to break the silence, but also trying to maintain the upper hand. She had been giving Jackson the cold shoulder all day long, but it didn’t appear to be getting her anywhere. At last Stiles broke the silence. “So Jackson, what did Matt want after school yesterday?”

Lydia flinched. “Matt? Why did Matt want to talk to you?” As far as Lydia knew, Matt and Jackson didn’t live in the same social circle, let alone the same social galaxy. Jackson looked at her and she realized how weirdly possessive she must have sounded. “I mean, I didn’t know you were friends.”

He looked at her and didn’t say anything for a moment. “We’re not friends. He’s helping me fix my computer and he want to know how much I was paying him.” Something in the way he spoke made it seem like he wasn’t telling the whole truth, but Lydia thought she better not push. It would probably be better that way. But she did.

“Why was he talking to you? Because I think that he followed me when I left chemistry the other day and it really creeped me out. Does that have anything to do with what you were talking about?” His face had hardened and she saw an expression she had never seen him wear before. Anger. He went back to picking at his salad and Stiles shot Lydia a sideways questioning glance.

Stiles put down his soda and gulped. “What’s wrong with your computer? I could have fixed it for you like last time.” Jackson glared at him and Stiles’ face did that weird twitchy thing. “Or whatever.” The tension at the table was so thick you could cut it with one of Jackson’s croutons. She couldn’t help but notice that his entire demeanor had changed. They ate the rest of their lunch in silence, until Jackson slammed back his chair and stormed away from the table. She looked at Stiles and he looked concerned..

“Why is he acting so weird, who cares if Matt is fixing his computer? I’m more worried with why he’s being so weird about it.” Stiles looked around nervously. She was getting nervous, “What is it?” He leaned in closer and started to whisper.

“Lydia, I fixed his computer the other day. But we haven’t seen each other in a while so I haven’t had a chance to give it back to him. I don’t know why, but Jackson is lying about why he was with Matt.”

 

“I’m not doing this anymore Matt. I’ve done everything you’ve asked and I won’t do anything else.” They were standing at the edge of the parking lot in the darkness. In the distance they could hear the sounds of marching band practice, and the groans of the football team on the field above them. For three days Jackson had been in this situation, refusing another one of Matt’s outlandish requests. Every day it was harder and harder to handle and he was starting to worry that his secret would get out.

“Jackson, it’s a simple request. You’ve already done so much for me, this is just a little bit further. All you need to do is to tell Lydia that she should go to the dance with me tomorrow night.”

Jackson’s face hardened. “I won’t do it. I already ruined my chances of ever being her all because of you and your obsession with her., I will not ruin what little friendship with her I have managed to cultivate. You can just go fuck yourself and leave the two of us alone.”

A malevolent smile curled across Matt’s face. He had gone to far. “Oh Jackson, I only wish you hadn’t said that. I guess now everyone is going to have to find out about that pesky little murder.”

**Author's Note:**

> So there it is. I'm going to be balancing this with a few other things I'm working on, so I'm sorry if there are some lomger breaks between postings.


End file.
